BEIJING - Parliament on Sunday took up measures meant to bring Chinese law into line with a more open, capitalist-style economy by protecting private property and equalizing taxes for foreign and domestic companies.

The proposed property law is the most controversial measure to come before parliament in recent years. Earlier versions prompted an outcry by leftists, who complained it would undermine state control of the economy and worsen the growing gap between an elite who have profited from China’s reforms and the poor majority.

The National People’s Congress began considering a seventh draft on Sunday that strikes a balance between private property and state ownership,’ said the official Xinhua News Agency. It said backers hoped to pass it when the NPC holds its next full meeting in March.

The Communist Party amended the constitution in 2004 to enshrine private property rights for the first time since its 1949 revolution. That followed two decades of reform that let hundreds of millions of Chinese lift themselves out of poverty as entrepreneurs started businesses, bought homes and traded stocks.

The debate over legal changes meant to enforce such protections highlights enduring concern about the impact of China’s rapid but uneven growth, which has set off protests over poverty, taxes and seizures of farmland for redevelopment.

The government of President Hu Jintao says it is committed to more reforms while trying to ease social tensions. Beijing has promised to spread prosperity from China’s booming eastern cities to the countryside and urban poor.

The property law, first proposed five years ago, was withdrawn from parliament during its last full meeting in March in an unusual reversal by the government after lawmakers failed to agree on its wording.

Xinhua said opposition faded after a new draft enshrined government ownership at the heart of the economic system.’

Also Sunday, lawmakers took up a proposed law to equalize tax rates paid by Chinese and foreign companies, many of which qualify for lower taxes due to incentives meant to attract investment.